Receiving and Doing the Word

Chuckle: "Old age is when former classmates are so gray and wrinkled and bald that they don't recognize you!"

Good Quote: "If your morals make you dreary, depend upon it, they are wrong." -- Robert Louis Stevenson

". . . humbly accept (receive/welcome) the word planted in you, which can save you. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says"  (James 1:21-22 NIV).

We must welcome God's Word into our hearts before we can do what it says. In our first passage, "receive" is a hospitality word. It means to welcome someone in the same way you would invite an old friend into your home with a warm, enthusiastic, and sincere welcome. In a similar way, God wants us to eagerly welcome the truth of his Word into our hearts as if it is my very best friend whom I haven't seen for a long time. Remember when you asked Jesus into your heart and life as Savior and Lord - He stood at the door of your heart and knocked - you asked Him in - you were born again - your sins were forgiven - the burden of sin was lifted - you were filled with unspeakable joy. We should continually welcome/receive God's Word into our lives with that same sense of expectation, excitement, and joy! After all, it's Almighty God speaking to us.

Next, God would have us do what his Word says -- practice it in our lives. Listen again to what James says: (vs. 22) "Do not merely listen to (hear) the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says."  Assume you came to me and said: "Jerry, your looking a little heavy - a little flabby in places." But you said, "I want to help you" and then you gave me a book on body-building by Arnold Swartzenagger. I can study that book until the pages are worn out and it won't change my flabby condition one iota. I'm still the same old fat preacher, because I haven't changed my habits. The purpose of the book is realized only when readers do what it says. You have heard and read the Bible and maybe even underlined some verses, but what are you doing about it? Are you following its instructions. To live out what the Bible says, we must do three things.

1. Respond to the Word: "Do not merely listen to the word." The word here for listening without doing is like auditing a class in college. You just sit in on a class, but without the responsibilities of doing the class work or taking the exams. Also, no credit is given for auditing a class. Just auditing requires no real effort on the student's part except to attend. But God does not give us the option of just auditing his Word. He requires us to put into practice what we learn there. If we listen to the Bible, we will learn some things about ourselves we would rather not know. But if we respond and act upon it, we will become different people and our lives will reflect that difference.

2. Remember the Word: (vs. 25) "look intently into the perfect law that gives freedom." Keep on looking, studying until the truth becomes a part of you. This truth is a challenge for us preachers. Studies show that by Wednesday you will have forgotten most of what the pastor says on Sunday. But If you take notes, you will remember so much better. But, if you listen, take notes, then go home and study them you will remember 25% more.  Then if you take the truths and practice them they will become a permanent part of your lifestyle as reflected in your changed behavior.

3. Reproduce the word: Only the Holy Spirit can help us do this. We will see a pattern of reproducing the words in the way we live. The word will be reproduced in others as they see us living or doing the word. James tells us how we can identify a doer of the Word:

(a). He/she exercises self-control: (vs. 26) "If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless." Our speech becomes a blessing to others rather than something that puts others down. We also will control our anger. (b). He/she shows love and compassion for others: (vs. 27) "Religion that the Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress." The welfare of others becomes of paramount importance to us. (c). He/she lives a life of cleanliness and purity: (vs. 27) ". . . and keeps oneself from being polluted by the world." Adherence to God's Word will inoculate us against all the satanic evils the world can throw at us.

Love, Jerry & Dotse